The European Union Times |
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Posted: 05 Sep 2014 02:47 PM PDT
 The United States will fight ISIL until it is no longer a threat in the Middle East and beyond, President Barack Obama said after the terrorist group executed a second American journalist on camera. “The bottom line is this, our objective is clear and that is to degrade and destroy (ISIL) so that it’s no longer a threat not just to Iraq but also the region and to the United States,” Obama told a news conference in Estonia on Wednesday. But moments later the US president contradicted himself by saying that wiping out ISIL entirely is not an achievable goal. “As we’ve seen with al-Qaeda, there are always going to be remnants that can cause havoc.” He acknowledged that confronting the militant group would take time and a broad coalition of allies. “This is not going to be a one-week or a one-month or a six-month proposition.” Obama’s comments come as US intelligence officials confirm the authenticity of a video showing the beheading of journalist Steven Sotloff by ISIL militants just two weeks after a similar video surfaced depicting the execution of James Foley, another American freelancer who had been missing in Syria. “Those who make the mistake of harming Americans will learn that we will not forget and that our reach is long and that justice will be served,” he said. Obama was widely criticized last week for saying “we don’t have a strategy yet” to confront the terrorist group. Contradicting statements by senior administration officials also reflect the lack of a comprehensive strategy to take on ISIL. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in the short term ISIL can be contained, while Secretary of State John Kerry insisted the group must be “crushed.” The United States and its regional allies have been supporting extremist groups in Syria to fight the government of President Bashar al-Assad. Last year ISIL exploited the chaos of the Syrian conflict to capture large swaths of territory there, before sweeping into neighboring Iraq where the militants have been rampaging through villages and towns beheading prisoners, carrying out massacres and expelling hundreds of thousands of residents. The United States resumed air strikes in Iraq in August for the first time since the pullout of American troops in 2011. More than 1,000 American ground troops have also been deployed back to the war-torn country. Source           |
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Posted: 05 Sep 2014 02:38 PM PDT
 United States President Barack Obama said Friday that the US and European Union are still prepared to impose sanctions against Russia if the crisis in Ukraine continues to escalate following the signing of a ceasefire agreement. Speaking in Newport, Wales at the close of a major NATO alliance summit, Pres. Obama expressed skepticism over a pact signed only hours earlier in Minsk during a meeting of representatives from Kiev, Lugansk and Donetsk, and said the US intends to go ahead with new sanctions revealed by the White House on Thursday this week. “Obviously we are hopeful,” Obama said of the ceasefire, “but based on past experience, also skeptical that, in fact, the separatists will follow through and the Russians will stop violating Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” “Pro-Russian separatists must keep their commitments,” Obama told the crowd. The terms of the agreement have to be “tested,” the president added, and that he expects to “move forward based on what is currently happening on the grounds with sanctions, while acknowledging that, if in the fact the elements of the plan that’s been signed are implemented, then those sanctions could be lifted.” Taking that approach, Obama said, “is a more likely way to ensure that there is a follow through” on the part of Russia. One day earlier, a White House spokesperson said that the US is readying a new wave of sanctions to impose against Russia as a result of Moscow’s perceived role in the ongoing crisis in eastern Ukraine, and the EU was expected to do the same, targeting both the federation’s energy and defense sectors. From the NATO summit, Obama said the ceasefire agreed upon only hours earlier was a result of “both the sanctions that have already been applied and the threat of further sanctions, which are having a real impact on the Russian economy and have isolated Russia in a way we have not seen in a very long time.” Speaking on behalf of the EU, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday that the latest sanctions being threatened against Moscow by European powers could be rescinded if the ceasefire deal is a success. “Everything is in flux,” Merkel said. “Therefore we should expect that these sanctions could indeed be put into force, but with the provison that they can be suspended again if this process really takes place,” she said, Reuters reported. According to Pres. Obama, this week’s talks among NATO partners yielded the decision that all 28-member states will now provide security assistance to Ukraine by means of supplying non-lethal supports, including body armor, fuel and medical care, as well as assistance intended to modernizing Ukrainian forces through improved logistics and command and control capabilities. Petro Poroshenko, the recently elected president of Ukraine, said “The highest value is human life, and we must do everything possible to stop the bloodshed and put an end to suffering.” The United Nations estimated last month that roughly 2,600 people have died in eastern Ukraine since fighting intensified in April. Source     |
